Typical electrical connectors, such as appliance plugs, audio plugs, ring terminals, etc., may include contact pins with wires which have one end connected to the contact pins and another extending away from the contact pin. The wires in such connectors may have a conductive core surrounded by insulation. The conductive core generally includes strands of conductive material, such as copper. The wire strands generally are physically and electrically connected to the contact pin by stripping insulation from the end of the wire to expose the ends of the strands, and crimping these strand ends to the contact pin.
The exposed strand ends, no longer surrounded by insulation, generally "stray" or "fan out" from the longitudinal axis of the wire core. Thus, when electrical connectors are formed in this or similar manner, they often include stray conductive strands which were not captured within the crimp because they have fanned out beyond the dimension of the crimp.
These stray strands can cause the electrical connector to short out and can pose a safety hazard if they extend to the surface of the electrical connector body. Additional disadvantages grow out of the time-consuming and costly inspection system required to assure that any electrical connectors with stray strands which are produced are not put into general circulation. Any connectors found with stray strands are discarded, since removal of stray strands from the electrical connector body is not possible. The generation of such scrap material is a further disadvantage associated with the typical electrical connector. Thus, there is a need for an electrical connector which is substantially stray-strand-proof.